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· Authorities offered a $100,000 reward
for information leading to the arrest of a suspect dubbed the “AK-47 Bandit”,
who allegedly robbed a credit union in Mason City, Iowa July 28 and is linked
to 5 other robberies in multiple States. – ABC News See item 7 below in the Financial Services Sector

· A New York Clinton Correctional
Facility worker involved in a June 6 escape of two murder convicts pleaded guilty
July 28 to helping the prisoners escape. – Associated Press

· Security researchers from Trend Micro
discovered a vulnerability in the Android operating system’s mediaserver
component in which an attacker could use a malformed Matroska video container
file to crash and render a device unusable. – IDG News Service See item 27 below in the Information Technology Sector

6. July 30,
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (National) SEC charges
operators of fraud based in Upstate New York. The U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission charged 2 men and 8 companies July 30 with allegedly
defrauding over 125 investors out of at least $8 million through misleading
statements about company prospects, and through the sale of purported
“charitable gift annuities” falsely claimed to have been backed by reputable
insurance companies.

7. July 30,
ABC News – (National) AK-47 Bandit strikes again, robs credit union in
Iowa. Authorities offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the
arrest and conviction of a suspect dubbed the “AK-47 Bandit”, who allegedly
robbed a credit union in Mason City Iowa July 28, shot a police officer in a
robbery in California in 2012, and is linked to 4 other bank robberies in
multiple States. Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/ak-47-bandit-strikes-robs-credit-union-iowa/story?id=32773494

8. July 29,
Associated Press – (National) Investment adviser pleads guilty in $1.2B Ponzi
scheme. A Florida investment adviser pleaded guilty July 29 to charges
surrounding his role in a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme that collapsed in 2009, in
which he allegedly lured investors to the scheme’s mastermind through deception
and false assurances. Over two dozen other suspects have been convicted in
connection to the scam. Source: http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Investment-Adviser-Pleads-Guilty-in-12B-Ponzi-Scheme-319552121.html

9. July 29,
Consumer Affairs – (Florida) “Thin green line” scam allegedly made millions for
scam artists. Authorities indicted 8 South Florida individuals who
allegedly solicited about $2.4 million from over 200 investors by claiming
their company, Thought Development Inc., had invented a device that generated a
green laser line on football fields for easier first-down measurement, as well
as a scheme in which the suspects fraudulently sold stock in a fee-based gaming
serviced called Virgin Gaming.
Source: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/thin-green-line-scam-allegedly-made-millions-for-scam-artists-072915.html

Information Technology Sector

23. July 30,
The Register – (International) Cisco IOS-XE update time: squash that DoS
bug. Cisco released a patch for a vulnerability In its IOS-XE operating
system (OS) in which an attacker could cause a denial-of-service (DoS)
condition by sending a series of Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) or IPv6
fragments designed to trigger an error message. Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/30/cisco_iosxe_update_time_squash_that_dos_bug/

24. July 30,
Help Net Security – (International) More than a third of employees would sell
company data. Loudhouse released results from a survey on enterprise
security practices polling over 500 Internet technology (IT) decision-makers
and 4,000 employees across the U.S., Europe, and Australia, revealing that 25
percent of employees polled would sell company data for less than $8,000,
citing the ready access most employees have access to valuable data, among
other findings.Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=18682

25. July 30,
Help Net Security – (International) Most malvertising attacks are hosted on news
and entertainment Web sites. Bromium Labs released an analysis of malware
evasion technology revealing that over 50 percent of malware is hosted on news
and entertainment Web sites, and reported an 80 percent increase in new
ransomware families
since 2014, among other findings.Source: http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=3081

26. July 29,
Securityweek – (International) Shellshock flaw still actively exploited:
Solutionary. Solutionary’s Security Engineering Research Team released
findings from a report revealing that the Shellshock bug discovered in 2014 has
been actively exploited by threat actors, identifying about 600,000
Shellshock-related events from over 25,000 Internet Protocol (IP) addresses,
mostly in the U.S. Researchers noted that education organizations were the most
targeted, among other findings.

· About 15 million gallons of water spilled
out after a 54-inch pipe broke at the Crystal Springs reservoir July 27 in San
Bruno that went unfixed for over 13 hours. – KRON 4 San Francisco

18. July 28,
KRON 4 San Francisco – (California) 15 million gallons of water wasted. About 15
million gallons of water spilled out after a 54-inch pipe broke at the Crystal
Springs reservoir July 27 in San Bruno. Officials reported that the water leak
went unfixed for over 13 hours in order to ensure that water pressure in
surrounding neighborhoods would not be affected.Source: http://kron4.com/2015/07/28/15-million-gallons-of-water-wasted-in-san-bruno-water-main-break/

· The governor of Oregon ordered State
agencies July 28 to reduce water consumption by at least 15 percent or more on
average across all State-owned. – Reuters

20. July 28,
Reuters – (Oregon) Oregon Governor orders State agencies to reduce
water consumption. The governor of Oregon ordered State agencies to reduce
water consumption by at least 15 percent or more on average July 28 across all
State-owned facilities
on or before December 31, 2020. The executive order comes as the governor has
declared drought emergencies for 23 of the State’s 36 counties. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/28/usa-oregon-drought-idUSL1N10835R20150728\

· An alleged self-professed Islamic State
adherent was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction
against a person or property within the U.S. July 28 after planning to remotely
detonate a timer bomb on a public beach in Key West. – U.S. Department of
Justice

25. July 28,
U.S. Department of Justice – (Florida) Florida resident charged with
attempting to use weapon of mass destruction. A self-professed Islamic
State adherent was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction
against a person or property within the U.S. July 28 after planning to remotely
detonate a timer bomb on a public beach in Key West. The suspect was arrested
July 27 after taking possession of an inert device.Source: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-resident-charged-attempting-use-weapon-mass-destruction

· Investigators involved in a previously
unreported May or June breach of United Airlines’ computer systems reported
links between the hackers and the Chinese threat group that breached the
records from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Anthem Inc., among other
organizations. – Bloomberg See
item 35
below in the Information Technology
Sector

Financial Services Sector

9. July 29,
Associated Press – (International) Floridian last of 12 convicted in Texas for timeshare
fraud. A Florida man was convicted July 28 for leading a $10 million
timeshare scam in the U.S. and Canada in which he scammed over 5,000 timeshare
owners by hiring telemarketers to solicit fees in false buying promises. Eleven
other suspects have pleaded guilty in connection to the scheme.

10. July 28,
Montgomery News – (Pennsylvania) Two sought for allegedly stealing more than
$100K through fraudulent credit card accounts. Authorities reported July 28
that they
are seeking the owners of the Fort Washington-based Centra-Spike heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning company on charges that the pair allegedly
stole $124,981 by using stolen identities of at least 8 victims to obtain
fraudulent loans. Source: http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2015/07/28/ambler_gazette/news/doc55b7b4e598593326989643.txt

11. July 28,
Reuters – (National) Western Union’s Paymap to pay $38.4 mln over
mortgage ads. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported July
28 that Paymap Inc., a unit of Western Union Co., agreed to pay $38.4 to
resolve U.S. regulatory allegations that the company deceived consumers into
signing up for a LoanCare LLC program that promised false savings. LoanCare LLC
will pay a $100,000 civil fine, and both companies agreed not to advertise the
mortgage program’s benefits without providing supporting evidence. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/28/sec-paymap-settlement-idUSL1N10827Q20150728

For additional stories, see
item 21 below from the Healthcare and Public
Health Sectorand item 32 below in the Information
Technology Sector

21. July 28,
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – (International) SEC charges
Mead Johnson Nutrition with FCPA violations. The U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission announced July 28 a $12 million settlement with Mead
Johnson Nutrition Company over allegations that its Chinese subsidiary violated
the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by offering cash and other incentives to
healthcare professionals to recommend Mead Johnson Nutrition products at
government-owned hospitals. The company also failed to accurately record over
$2 million in improper payments made during a 5-year period. Source: http://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2015-154.html

Information Technology Sector

29. July 29,
Securityweek – (International) Russian hacker tool uses legitimate Web services to hide
attacks: FireEye. Security
researchers from FireEye discovered that the APT29 threat group is employing a
malicious backdoor dubbed “HAMMERTOSS” that utilizes a multi-stage process
involving social media, steganography, and PowerShell to hide malicious
activity within legitimate network traffic. Researchers believe that the
backdoor is only being deployed against critical targets, possibly as a backup
in case other tools fail or are disrupted. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/russian-hacker-tool-uses-legitimate-web-services-hide-attacks-fireeye

30. July 29,
Securityweek – (International) BIND update patches critical DoS
vulnerability. The Internet Systems Consortium released updates for the
popular BIND Domain Name System (DNS) software addressing a critical remotely
exploitable vulnerability in the handling of TKEY recorded queries in which an
attacker could use a specially crafted DNS packet to trigger a
denial-of-service (DoS) condition. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/bind-update-patches-critical-dos-vulnerability

34. July 29,
Homeland Security News Wire – (International) Cellphones can
steal data from isolated “air-gapped” computers. Researchers at the
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Cyber Security Research Center discovered a
way to use central processing unit (CPU) firmware-modification software to turn
an air-gapped system into a cellular transmitting antenna, making it possible
for any mobile phone infected with malicious code to use GSM phone frequencies to
steal data from infected air-gapped systems. Researchers recommended mitigation
measures including defined “zones” where mobile phones and other devices are
not allowed near at-risk air-gapped computers. Source: http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20150729-cellphones-can-steal-data-from-isolated-airgapped-computers

35. July 29,
Bloomberg – (International) China-tied hackers that hit U.S. said to
breach United Airlines. Investigators involved in a probe of a previously
unreported May or June breach of United Airlines’ computer systems reported
links between the hackers and the Chinese threat group that perpetrated the
theft of security-clearance records from the U.S. Office of Personnel
Management and medical data from Anthem Inc., as well as at least seven other
travel and health insurance organizations. Officials believe that the breach
may have compromised movement data of millions of Americans and opened the
airline’s systems to future disruptions and attacks. Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-29/china-tied-hackers-that-hit-u-s-said-to-breach-united-airlines

37. July 28,
Jersey Journal – (New Jersey) 800 Verizon customers in Bayonne without service
after fiber optic cable is damaged, company says. A Verizon Wireless
spokesman reported that an estimated 800 customers in Bayonne are without
phone, Internet, and TV service after a fiber optic cable was accidentally
damaged July 28. Crews are working to repair the damaged cable and hope to have
service restored later in the day. Source: http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/07/verizon_customers_without_service_after_fiber_cabl.html

For additional stories, see item 34 above in the Information Technology Sector and item 41 below from the Commercial
Facilities Sector

41. July 28,
Associated Press – (California) Bomb threat forces evacuation of CHP building in
LA. Approximately 60 people from the California Highway Patrol
communications center in Los Angeles were evacuated for over 2 hours July 28
due to a bomb threat. Bomb-sniffing dogs and several police crews responded to
the incident and found no explosive device.

Links

About Me

U.S. Army Retired Chief Warrant Officer with more than 40 years in information technology and 35 years in information security. Became a Certified Information Systems Security Professional in 1995 and have taught computer security in Asia, Canada and the United States. Wrote a computer security column for 5 years in the 1980s titled "for the Sake Of Security", penname R. E. (Bob) Johnston, which was published in Computer Decisions.
Motto: "When entrusted to process, you are obligated to safeguard"